It's easy to condemn Google for working with despotic Chinese authorities to censor things that they don't want widely discussed -- their human rights record, invasion of Tibet, attacks on sects such as Falun Gong, missiles aimed at Taiwan, and so on. It's especially easy if you are a journalist, academic, politician or otherwise in a position where you can ignore the commercial realities of doing business in a global marketplace. It's not so easy when you're risking the future development of your company, your job, or your family.
And given China's size, cost advantages and rate of growth, not being in China is a serious business issue for a great many companies today.
Another reason for not rushing to condemn Google (or Yahoo, or Microsoft) is to avoid being hypocritical. For example, I use an IBM ThinkPad X31, which was made in China, and I know and like many of the former IBMers who are now part of China's Lenovo. If I hunted around, I'm sure I could find many other tech gadgets that have been made in China. What about you? Are your hands clean? Are you honestly in a position to condemn others for working with the Chinese authorities when you are exploiting them yourself?
When we opposed the evils of apartheid in South Africa, we boycotted South African goods, and the companies that worked with the regime. That was honest. Let me know when you do the same to China.
For companies, there was an interesting paragraph at the end of The Wall Street Journal's article, Google Launches Service in China. It said:
Some US tech companies are working behind the scenes to craft for the Internet in China an equivalent of the Sullivan Principles, guidelines formulated in the 1970s that helped mobilize US corporate divestment to protest South African apartheid.
The Global Sullivan Principles of Social Responsibility don't demand a boycott but include actions that are intended "to achieve greater tolerance and better understanding among peoples, and advance the culture of peace".
Google is a big company, but it's not big enough to change China on its own, and that realisation has simply exposed the naivety of its sloganeering. Google, Yahoo, Microsoft, AOL and every other net player might not be big enough to change China either. However, they'd have more chance if they worked together on a common code of principles, instead of scoring points off one another.
